COMMONWEALTH Games champion Lisa Whiteside will make her professional boxing debut at Stevenage Football Club next month.

The Chorley-born fighter, who won flyweight gold for England at the Gold Coast 2018 games, will be part of the supporting cast for Billy Joe Saunders’ interim WBO World super middleweight title showdown against Shefat Isufi at the Lamex Stadium on Saturday May 18.

Whiteside’s opponent is yet to be confirmed although the 33-year-old is set to move quickly in the paid ranks, her manager Sam Jones wanting to pit her against long-time amateur rival Nicola Adams this year.

The pair were team-mates on the Great Britain squad with Adams getting the nod to represent and win gold for Team GB at back-to-back Olympics, Whiteside’s moment in the sun coming in Australia 12 months ago.

Leeds fighter Adams is now 5-0 as a professional and closing in on a world title shot.

GB Boxing confirmed back in October 2018 that Whiteside had left the World Class Performance Programme, fuelling speculation that she was set to join the professional game. That was confirmed at the start of 2019 with the Mick Day-trained fighter who is based at MTK Manchester in Preston now ready to kick on.

Whiteside has a wealth of experience to bring to the professional game after a highly decorated stint as an amateur.

As well as Commonwealth gold, the Chorley fighter is a seven-time national champion and took silver at the 2014 World Championships in South Korea, as well as at the 2011 European Championships in Rotterdam, Holland.

Whiteside is set to be part of a packed card for the fight in Hertfordshire.

As well as her debut clash, the Frank Warren-promoted event will feature former world amateur champion Willy Hutchinson in his eighth professional bout and exciting 21-year-old featherweight Ryan ‘The Piranha’ Garner, who has recorded six knockouts from eight fights.

The unbeaten Sanjeev Sahota returns to the ring looking to build on his 11 wins so far with Harley Benn also having his seventh fight.

Tickets ranging from £40 to £250 can be bought by contacting Whiteside on Twitter @lisawhiteside.